May News Summary  

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Last month we saw continued efforts from a diversity of US groups urging the Biden administration to lift sanctions against Cuba. On May 5th, CUSAN led an initiative to draft, coordinate and deliver a letter to several members of the Biden administration, signed by 36 environmental and sustainable agriculture grassroots and civil society organizations. The letter outlines four key policy recommendations that could be made swiftly through executive action and would significantly address a key human rights issue that is severely hindered by US sanctions - the right to food. Lead scholar on US-Cuba relations, William Leo Grande, penned an opinion piece also urging for a lifting of sanctions on the grounds of food as a human right stating that “hunger has been a weapon in Washington’s arsenal against Cuba ever since President Eisenhower”. On May 25th, Oxfam released a report titled Right to Live Without a Blockade, which analyses the multiple impacts on and limitations to human rights that the US sanctions place on the Cuban population, in particular on women and girls. 

Every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly for a resolution calling on the United States to lift the embargo. As the next annual UN vote on June 23rd approaches, groups are calling for the Biden administration to use this as an opportunity to make good on his promise “to reverse the failed Trump policies that inflicted harm on Cubans and their families”. Please consider signing on to this letter to President Biden calling on his administration to do so.

News out of Cuba this month includes: Two analysis pieces by Cuban agricultural economist, Armando Nova, on the need for small and medium enterprises in the agrifood sector and the need for deeper reforms aimed at decentralized food systems management; Finca Marta receives use authorization for the Mariel Special Development Zone; public bicycle system for the municipality of Havana is open for bidding; China will donate 5,000 solar panels to Cuba; new rules on bank loans; FAO and GEF project to strengthen Cuba's capacity to respond to Paris Agreement; and the National Association of Small Farmers ANAP celebrates their 60th anniversary.
 
NEWS 

Contracts important to stimulating food production, say Cuban authorities
“Destacan rol del contrato en medidas para estimular producción de alimentos”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Evelyn Corbillón Diaz, ACN, April 27, 2021
 
Contracts between producers and the Cuban state are crucial to effectively implementing new measures to stimulate agricultural production on the island, according to senior government officials during a training session in Pinar del Rio, for those responsible for carrying out this process. Provincial and municipal government authorities were called on to prioritize consumer needs, consider the economic situation in the country and capitalize on new measures when establishing contracts. Of the sixty-three new precepts, 30 are considered urgent to boosting production in the short term. Production and supply contracts to improve offers, quality and storage capacities were identified as key among these. Lowering water and electricity rates, tax cuts, as well as authorizing the sale and consumption of beef were also signaled as measures with the most immediate impact. Ensuring that workers harness new opportunities arising from the changes was highlighted among priorities going forward, while the need for serious, efficient and diligent efforts was emphasized as key to perfecting the country’s agricultural system. The entire process will be accompanied by working commissions tasked with monitoring the implementation of these new measures. 
 
Unprecedented forest fire contained in Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
“Bajo control el mayor incendio forestal en la historia del Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt”
*Article posted in Spanish
Cubadebate, April 28, 2021
 
On April 16, specialist fire brigades and local volunteers were deployed to the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, where a blaze had been detected in areas populated by pine and oak trees on the border between the eastern provinces of Holguin and Guantánamo. According to Gerardo Begué-Quiala, deputy director of the Environmental Services Unit, the fire spread rapidly, affecting an estimated 3,000 hectares; destroying a large area of conifers while also impacting oak trees in the zone. It took a week of intense efforts over rough terrain, with the use of helicopters, bulldozers and water trucks to get the blaze under control. According to ACN news agency, as of April 28 only small pockets of fire remained, which were being closely monitored. Over 100 firefighters and volunteers mobilized by Municipal Defense Councils managed to contain the inferno, the largest in the history of the park, which is also a nature reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning over 700,000 hectares across the northeastern region of the island, and home to valuable species of Cuban flora and fauna.
 
The experience of learning about and enjoying nature
“Vivir la experiencia de aprender y disfrutar de la naturaleza”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Communication Department, CITMA, April 30, 2021
 
On the 20th anniversary of Villa Clara’s Environmental Studies and Services Center, four young specialists share their experiences to date. With the impact of human activity and climate change threatening one of Cuba’s prize attractions, its pristine beaches, experts have been working to recover and maintain these areas of high environmental, social and economic value. Specialists from the Coastal Management Center are involved in conservation efforts across six beaches, including dredging, monitoring the area’s biodiversity, and terrain surveying.The aim: receive the category of Environmental Beach, which implies striking a harmonious balance between environmental protection, sustainable tourism and local development. Specialists are also working at Los Caimanes National Park, of which only 0.04% is terrain, the rest is marine expanse. Here the focus is conservation and protection. Specialists are tasked with monitoring various species and habitats while ensuring that their impact on the almost pristine environment is minimal. They are also responsible for implementing control measures - with any and all fishing activities accompanied by a specialist from the Center. Their important work, in direct contact with nature, makes for a favorable mix of professional fulfillment, continual learning and transformative results. 
 
Project supported by FAO and GEF will strengthen Cuba's technical capacities to report to the Paris Agreement
“Proyecto apoyado por FAO y GEF fortalecerá capacidades técnicas de Cuba para reportar al Acuerdo de París”
*Article Posted In Spanish
By Juventud Técnica, April 30, 2021
A two-day workshop was hosted in Havana with the purpose to start implementing a new project in Cuba to strengthen technical capacities and provide specialized training to Cuban institutions on how to respond to the Paris Agreement, especially those in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors and carried out over 3-years with the goals to improve knowledge and communication on the impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation actions. The workshop was attended by CITMA representation from the Institute of Meteorology and Cuba Energía, Ministry of Agriculture, the Agroforestry Research Institute and the Pasture and Forage Research Institute and financed by the Global Fund for the Environment (GEF), in association with the Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba (MINAG) and FAO. The project marks a start to shifting the paradigm in terms of transparency on monitoring and planning systems to address the crucial factors of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, while aligning with Cuba’s national plan, Tarea Vida (Project Life) and the priorities related to sustainable development to face climate change in the Cuban agricultural system, as well as the Food Sovereignty and Nutrition Education Plan.
 
Ponen en licitación sistema de bicicletas públicas para municipio de La Habana
“Public bicycle system for the municipality of Havana is open for bidding”
*Article posted in Spanish 
By OnCuba, Mayo 2, 2021
 
The General Directorate of Provincial Transport of Cuba’s capital summoned Cuban state companies and non-state entities in the transport sector to present their proposals for bidding on the public bicycle system, which will have nine cycle stations and 350 bikes in circulation. The cycling mobility initiative is called Ha’Bici Neomovilidad and will be implemented in the Havana municipality of Boyeros and part of the Cyclical Mobility Strategy. It’s a collaborative project with the General Directorate of Provincial Transportation of Havana (DGTPH) and the Center for Research and Environmental Management of Transportation to "advocate for the safe and massive use of this means of sustainable transport.” At the end of 2020, it was announced that for the current year this public transport system would be operating and designed for average distances used mainly for work and study purposes. The bicycles to be used will be assembled by the Minerva company from the central province of Villa Clara, based on a specific design prepared by the Center for Research and Environmental Management of Transport and considering the characteristics of the Cuban population. 
 
Agricultura cubana: Transformaciones que apremian el sector agroalimentario cubano requiere de medidas osadas que reestructuren el funcionamiento de la gestión económico-productiva
“Cuban Agriculture: Transformations that urge the Cuban agri-food sector requires daring measures to restructure the operation of economic-productive management.”
*Article Posted in Spanish 
By Armando Nova González, OnCuba,  May 3, 2021.
 
The author states that while the fact that the Cuban authorities recognize that food production constitutes a highly strategic aspect for the economy is encouraging,  it's not enough to achieve success and will require the application of new measures that are profound and daring enough to imply significant structural changes in the current economic-productive management of the agri-food sector. The author points out that while the tightening of the US blockade on Cuba in the last 5-years has certainly impacted the economy, the delay in the implementation of new measures has as well. A diversity of forms of commercialization are necessary. The author points out that the food system requires systemic reforms, with a greater diversity of forms of commercialization - including 2nd level cooperatives - and the importance of avoiding monopolies. This will require a decentralization of management with a separation of state and private sector. The author states the importance of allowing producers to decide what to produce, to whom to sell, to set a price, to access resources and services, while also bearing in mind social requirements, such as the development of horizontal relationships, keeping social protections, and favorable agricultural insurance for producers, while generating opportunities and improved living conditions especially for rural women and young people in the agricultural sector and promoting family ownership.   Lastly, under the conception of the new management model it is necessary to promote the granting of differentiated fiscal incentives to activities and organizational forms of innovative production, which encourage sustainable management of biodiversity (seed conservation banks and management of varieties, processing and marketing, local certification systems, handicrafts, etc.) to help implement the recently approved agroecological policy that hopes to achieve greater food sovereignty for the country. 
 
Japanese technology favors rice seed production in Camagüey
“Tecnología japonesa favorece producción de semilla de arroz en Camagüey”
*Article Posted in Spanish 
By Yurislenia Pardo Ortega,  Adelante, May 3, 2021
 
Japan donated to Cuba the modern machinery of seven tray seeders, nine transplanters, eight mini-harvesters, 41 tractors and the trays used in the process for planting and transplanting rice. The donation went to the southern area of the Camagűey province. Juan Carlos Echemendía Ramírez, a rice farmer from the Los Ranchos farm, where the donation was received, said “I wish that all producers had the possibility of having machines like these, then there would be no need to import cereal into the country. It humanizes the work and that is essential. Being with the mud at mid-leg and bent all the time exhausts a lot. To sow three hectares manually we needed 30 to 35 men for three or four days, now with the seeders we do it in one day and with four people.” This technology will help increase crop yields, achieves better control of germination and regulates the population density of the seedlings, establishing an ideal space between them. Other benefits include the reduction in diseases, the control of weeds and, it saves on irrigation and achieves a production with less environmental impact.
 
Cuba:The crisis of a stalling industry
“Cuba: la crisis de una industria que no despega”
*Article posted in Spanish
By EFE, OnCuba, May 4, 2021
 
Since its pre-revolutionary heyday, and following the impact of the economic crisis of the1990s known as the Special Period, the Cuban sugar industry has been a non-starter. Today, only 56 of the 156 mills operational before 1959 remain, with only 38 involved in processing the 2020-2021 harvest. Cane production has also dropped drastically from around seven to eight million tons during its peak from 1970 to 1989, to just over one million forecast for this year. There are several reasons to explain the industry’s stagnation. The US blockade is one; hampering sector growth by causing 125 billion USD in losses over the last 60 years from lack of access to the US market; as well as to vital supplies, replacement parts and technology. Then there’s the impact of climate change; in 2017 hurricane Irma destroyed 430,000 hectares of sugarcane and caused notable damage to several dozen mills. Historic scars also play a part: nationalizations by the Revolutionary government spurred the US to cut its sugar quota with the island and impose what has since become the longest and most complete set of sanctions against any country in modern history, with the intention of bringing the island’s sugar-dependent economy to its knees. The second blow came in the 1990s when the Soviet Union, which had assumed the US’s former quota at extremely favorable rates to Cuba, also left the island in the lurch, forcing it to “restructure” the industry. 70% of mills were closed and 60% of cane crop land redesignated to growing other produce. Finally, fluctuating global prices keep the profitability of cane production in Cuba dependent on the whims of an inconsistent and uncontrollable market.
 
Environmental and agricultural organizations ask Biden to change policy towards Cuba
“Organizaciones ambientalistas y agrícolas piden a Biden cambio de política hacia Cuba”
*Article posted in Spanish 
By the Cuban Embassy in Washington, Cuba Si, May 6, 2021 
 
On May 5th, the Caribbean Agroecology Institute (CAI) in coordination with the Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN) led an initiative to draft, coordinate and deliver a letter to several members of the Biden Administration urging for specific policy recommendations regarding US policy towards Cuba. The letter was signed by 36- organizations representing farmers, agroecologists, ecologists, academics, civil society, environmental and climate justice movement leaders. The letter outlines U.S. policies toward Cuba, particularly the impact of the US embargo on Cuba's ability to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, while severely limiting the development of sustainable food systems and Cuba's right to food. Margarita Fernández, executive director of the CAI and coordinator of CUSAN, noted that the White House press secretary said that 'human rights will be a fundamental pillar of US policy' towards Cuba. Fernández added that “the sanctions applied by the United States seriously limit the rights of Cuban citizens to food security, climate resilience and dignity. A truly bold, rights-based political approach would be to lift the blockade completely." The letter calls for executive measures to restore the regulations that governed trade and travel to Cuba to the point that they were before January 20, 2017. It also raises the need to immediately cease the application of any sanction and restriction against food, medicine and any other humanitarian assistance to Cuba. The letter also requests for the full reopening of the US Embassy and consular services in Havana and renew the Obama-era bilateral exchanges in essential areas such as environment, civil society and scientific cooperation. As a fourth policy recommendation, it urges President Biden to use his executive authority to not renew the annual determination to impose sanctions under the Trade with the Enemy Act. 
 
Cuban educators receive award for local agricultural innovation
“Raquel y Aramís, premio de la Academia y del surco”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Yuset Puig & Naily Barrientos Matos, Periodico26, May 6, 2021
The Las Tunas based Local Agricultural Innovation Project (PIAL), was recently recognized by The Cuban Academy of Sciences for 12 years of work dedicated to the development of agricultural production on the island. The project, a collective endeavor, brings together experiences from all over the country to create an agricultural innovation system. The PIAL model is based on knowledge sharing and capacity building which seeks to encourage sustainable and efficient agricultural production in Cuba. It’s also geared toward minimizing the impact of climate change, centering producers within the agri-food chain and contributing to local development. Over the last 12 years the PIAL has seen some notable results - from improving farming and livestock rearing techniques, and promoting a value chain approach to agricultural activity, to supporting producers as they adapt to changing environments, job creation and the development of infrastructure. The cornerstone of the project and key to its success are the “thousands of producers and families” which represent an “incalculable and inexhaustible” source of human capital. 
Cuba denounces impact of US blockade on island’s food security
Cuba denuncia impacto de bloqueo de EEUU en seguridad alimentaria
*Article posted in Spanish
Prensa Latina, May 10, 2021
Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez denounced the impact of the US blockade on food security in Cuba, citing a UN World Food Program report (WFP Global Update on COVID-19), which also points to this body of US sanctions as negatively impacting the island’s efforts to provide the entire population with equitable access to food. Rodriguez demanded the US stop its attempts to subjugate Cuba through hunger and scarcity while noting that the hostile policy has cost the country’s agri-food sector over 428 million USD from April 2019 and March 2020. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mauri Hechavarría noted that the blockade “constitutes the main obstacle to development in agriculture and makes it difficult to achieve goals for sustainable development”. According to a report by Cuba, economic losses caused by the blockade between April 2019 and March 2020 exceeded five billion USD for the first time - damages stemming from the covid19 pandemic - notwithstanding.
Who are the women in the President’s greeting card?
“¿Quiénes son las mujeres en la postal del Presidente?”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Dinella García Acosta & Alejandro Azcuy Domínguez, Cubadebate, May 12, 2021
On Mother’s Day Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted a message of congratulations to all Cuban mothers with an image featuring three campesinas. But who are they? Ileana, Leydanis, Anisleidys are three members of the Estévez family, from the province of Artemisa. All of them work at Finca Marta, which has become the poster child of Cuban agroecology and local development, run by Fernando Funes.  All three women have a strong connection to each other and to the earth; Ileana, the matriarch who has been working at Finca Marta for the past 7 years, describes herself as a “country girl’ through and through. Working in the fields, she notes, is her passion. Her 24-year-old daughter, Leydanis started working at the farm just two months ago, and despite the physical demands of the job is dedicated to her trade. Anisleidys, Ileana’s eldest, arrived at Finca Marta three years prior in order to spend more time with her mother. A homemaker for many years, Anisleidys now feels completely fulfilled in her new role as a member of Finca Marta. All three women, alongside their colleagues, are vital to making the farm what it is today: a reference for sustainable agricultural development and one of the first Cuban businesses to operate out of the Mariel Special Development Zone. The farm’s success is also seen reflected in economic benefits for workers, key motivators according to Funes. But the real magic of this farm lies in the people who work it every day, in the family environment and sense of belonging which exists among all members of Finca Marta, named in honor of Funes’ mother Marta Monzote Fernández (1947-2007), a pioneer of the agroecology movement in Cuba. 
 Project titled “Environmental Bases for Local Agricultural Sustainability” concludes
“Concluye proyecto Bases Ambientales para la Sostenibilidad Alimentaria Local en Cuba”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Yanel Blanco Miranda, Juventud Técnica, May 13, 2021
The Environmental Bases for Local Agricultural Sustainability (BASAL) project is benefitting over 60 production entities from 33 municipalities across Cuba by providing equipment and methodological resources to help producers adapt to climate change. Supported by the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment’s Environmental Agency (AMA), Tropical Geography Institute and Ministry of Agriculture, BASAL offers a comprehensive and innovative approach to vulnerability mitigation within the agricultural sector. The initiative forms part of the Cuban state’s comprehensive plan to combat climate change, Tare Vida (Project Life). According to Dr. Maritza García, AMA President, to date the project has provided valuable learning experiences and strengthened collaboration between environmental and agricultural sectors, producers and decision makers, at a local and national level. Some of its most notable results include the establishment of 12 capacity building and knowledge sharing centers in 11 municipalities; alternative energy supplies such as biodigesters and solar panels, as well as guidelines for territorial authorities on how to further incorporate agricultural production into local development.
 
Researchers expose the situation of Cuban rural women: A virtual meeting of the “Soy Todas” (I am all) campaign showed gender gaps and challenges for women in the agricultural sector.
“Investigadoras exponen situación de mujeres rurales cubanas: El encuentro virtual de la campaña Soy todas mostró brechas de género y desafíos de mujeres en el sector agropecuario.”
*Article Posted in Spanish
By IPS Cuba, May 16, 2021
 
During a virtual meeting, five social scientists from different Cuban institutions and provinces throughout the island shared their findings and conclusions about the gender inequities, along with challenges that hinder the full participation of Cuban rural women in a changing economic and social context in local agri-food systems and chains of production. The campaign “Soy Todas” was launched to focus on the social recognition of diverse women linked to the agri-food chains in the agriculture system and shows their contribution to food production and sustainability from the various aspects of their daily lives as a matter of justice.The campaign was created under the project PROSAM, which was launched to promote sustainable food production at the municipal-level. Some of the findings included that in the absence of systematized information on the subject, it is necessary to study what are the main opportunities and challenges that they face in the national context. While there is a favorable legal framework and a gender strategy in the Ministry of Agriculture and within the National Program for the Advancement of Women, there is still a long way to go. Some recommendations stressed the importance of giving rural women the power and capacity to eliminate obstacles that limit access and control over productive and technological resources, as well as their insertion into the administrative, productive and political spaces of the sector. Rural women also need access to land in usufruct and urgent policies to intervene in the productive matrix, innovation, institutional environment, training and motivate the work of women and young people. Also, the realities of persistent power dynamics and other aspects anchored in the influence of patriarchal culture were addressed in the conclusions.
 
Cuba’s agrarian reform: More than a story of land redistribution
“La reforma agraria: más que una historia de repartición de tierras”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Sara Kozameh, OnCuba, May 17, 2021
 
Contrary to popular belief, Cuba’s agrarian reform went further and implied deeper transformations than just land redistribution. Journalist Sara Kozameh describes how one of the earliest actions and central precepts of the revolutionary struggle, impacted the multiple, dynamic and complex processes that defined the course of the revolution and transformed almost all aspects of Cuban life. As well as giving campesinos full rights to their land, the agrarian reform also helped politicize this historically disenfranchised sector of the population, making them key actors in the collective creation of a new Cuba. According to Kozameh, it was the agrarian reform that helped consolidate the power of the nascent revolution and defeat the counterrevolutionary movement, supported by the US. It was also a driver of rural development - demanding changes needed to accompany the new land reform, including the building of schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure for communities. However, just like all transformative processes, Cuba’s agrarian reform was not without its problems and contradictions. The fervor of rights won led some campesinos to start reappropriating land themselves, while their children began to embrace new opportunities, swapping the field for the classroom, and rural work for professional occupations. In the end the law was the culmination of decades of peasant struggles and the catalyst behind new battles still being fought.
 
Cuban agriculture and SMEs
“La agricultura cubana y las PYME”
*Article posted in Spanish
By Armando Nova González, OnCuba, May 18, 2021

With broad and deep transformations occurring in Cuba’s agricultural sector, Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) could have a place in ensuring that these changes bear fruit. SMEs are generally considered key to a country’s economic development given their competitive nature, capacity to generate jobs, market adaptability and efficiency. However, they also require a certain amount of protection and support from the state, usually in the form of start-up loans and technology transfer, and are more vulnerable to macro-economic shifts like currency devaluation. But SMEs have been proven to be significant to a country’s economic growth and its ability to confront economic crises: two priorities for Cuba. SMEs don't currently exist among the main economic management structures within the island’s agricultural sector, which include cooperatives, usufruct title holders and private producers. There is space within the latter category however, for them to be established - producing biofertilizers, offering maintenance services, transport, logistics and technical assistance- all crucial areas within the agricultural production chain. They could make a significant contribution to increasing sector efficiency and be the solution to longstanding production problems at a local level.



Economic analysis of new measures to galvanize agricultural production
Análisis económico: Sobre las nuevas medidas para dinamizar la producción agropecuaria
*Article posted in Spanish
By Luis Miguel Cabrera, OnCuba, May 19, 2021

Coherent implementation, consistency, constant evaluation, comprehensive participation and overcoming bureaucracy are five keys to ensuring new sets of measures designed to galvanize agricultural production in Cuba are successful. This, according to economist Juan Triana Cordoví, who notes that the new rules are neither a magic, or fast-track, solution to some of the sector’s most challenging problems. The measures, which were drawn up in conjunction with 1,300 of the country’s producers, experts and scientists, fall into two categories: short and long term; with the former including tax reductions and product price readjustment, while the later contemplates empowering local government, restructuring cooperatives, and greater use of scientific and technological advances. All this, with a view to boosting production and increasing direct domestic investment. But the measures only go so far, two important areas not addressed by the new provisions are foreign investment and availability of supplies. According to the economist, although not the solution to longstanding problems within the sector, the new measures are a step in the right direction toward addressing them.
 
Analysis: Soaring international prices aggravate Cuban food crisis
*Article Posted in English
By Marc Frank, Reuters, May 20, 2021
 
Soaring international food and shipping prices and low domestic production are further squeezing import-dependent Cuba’s ability to feed its people. Cuba traditionally imports by sea around 70% of the food it consumes, but tough U.S. sanctions and the pandemic, which has gutted tourism, have cut deeply into foreign exchange earnings. There are long lines and steep price increases on milk, butter, chicken, beans, rice, pasta and cooking oil and just this month it was announced the availability of flour will be cut by 30% through July, along with a wheat shortage due to the costs involved with the shipments. Cuba does not grow wheat due to its subtropical climate.The government has also said the sugar harvest was short and they are having trouble making up for a shortage of domestically produced sugar as international prices are around 70% higher than a year ago. Adding to the pain, the cost of international container shipping is up as much as 50% over the last year and bulk freight more. John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which follows the trade, said sales fell 36.6% last year to $163.4 million, compared with 2019. They recovered in the first quarter, reaching $69.6 million, though that represented less food due to higher prices. Chicken, Cuba's most important U.S. import, is badly affected. A U.S. businessman who sells chicken to Cuba said he shipped drumsticks at 24 cents a pound in January and 48 cents in April. He did not wish to be named. According to the article the government has not published statistics for the agricultural sector since 2019 but scattered provincial and other reports on specific crops and livestock indicate substantial declines for rice, beans, pork, dairy and other Cuban fare. 
 
Cuba's Economic Isolation Protected Its Environment: the island nation has fewer nonnative plants than other Caribbean islands 
*Article Posted in English 
By Meghan Brown & Jeffrey Corbin, Scientific American,  May 21, 2021
 
Given the Cuban Revolution and the subsequent U.S.-sponsored economic blockade, Cuba’s economic isolation protected its environment and impacted its modern ecology.  Cuba is among the largest and most biodiverse islands in the world. A team of U.S. and Cuban scientists documented that Cuba hosts far fewer nonnative plants than expected. It lacks 177 nonnative plant species present on other Caribbean islands. Only one in eight plant species found in Cuba originated elsewhere, less than half the global average for islands. It supports about the same number of nonnative species as much smaller and less habitat-rich islands, such as Puerto Rico—a tenth its size. Cuba also has fewer nonnative reptile and amphibian species than neighboring islands. Cuba’s economic self-sufficiency may be the inadvertent mechanism that limited the introduction of nonnative species. Although international trade is more commonly implicated as the vector for nonnative species introductions, tourism is an essential factor in understanding nonnative species patterns. Cuba is susceptible to future invasions given the recent investment in the tourism sector has already increased visitors, and policy directives and port expansions will bring more trade. Cuba’s geography and native ecology predict the capacity of the island to support many more nonnative plants. The eminent spread and the deleterious impacts of nonnative species threaten the immense biodiversity of Cuba and the Caribbean, which is the very foundation of the region’s ecological stability and an attraction to tourists.
 
Cuban agroecological farm becomes user of Mariel's special zone
“Finca agroecológica cubana se convierte en usuaria de zona especial de Mariel”
*Article Posted in Spanish 
By IPS Cuba May 19, 2021 
 
Finca Marta, an agroecological project led by the scientist and farmer Fernando Funes, grows around 60 varieties of vegetables, cares for livestock and beekeeping, while producing renewable energies coexist on the farm, all of which has had a dynamic impact on neighboring farms. It is located in quadrant H of the Special Development Zone (ZED) known as Mariel.  In early 2021, this eco-farm received the user authorization from the Mariel Special Development Zone, as part of Resolution No. 1 of 2021. They are first of their type to receive as ‘natural persons’ and approval for the production, benefit, processing and marketing of vegetables, fruits and bee products, not only from the farm production, but also agricultural areas. This authorization affords them not only the power to market the productions directly to any market segment, but also allows them to contribute to the design and advice of other producers in sustainable agricultural practices. During this pandemic, this new opening provides stimulus to agricultural workers of Finca Marta and the surrounding agricultural sector. Funes is committed to an articulation that goes beyond the relationship with the land for the production of food, and shared that “there are environmental, cultural, educational issues that have to do with the market and how we can stimulate the market, based on respect for nature, a concern for the quality of food, to produce healthy food in a sustainable way.”  Finca Marta has teamed up with  the Antonio Núñez Jiménez de la Naturaleza y el Hombre Foundation (FANJ), in an agreement of collaboration signed on April 20th,  that aims to build coordination with the foundation, other institutions and organizations, a matrix is ​​built, based on pillars such as a coordinating technical team, in charge of the design, management and planning of agricultural production, focused on the sustainability of agricultural systems from production, benefit, processing and marketing. According to Funes, other pillars are investments, to activate the productive systems and the technological completion of the farms, for the benefit of the use of natural resources, renewable energies and sustainable agriculture.
 
Agricultural group of Cuba for increasing exports 
“Grupo agrícola de Cuba por incrementar exportaciones”
*Article Posted in Spanish
By Prensa Latina, May 24, 2021
 
The first vice president of the Agricultural Business Group (GEA), Wilver Bringas, told Prensa Latina today that together with the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, they drew up strategies to increase exports to enter new markets.They have created five export poles in different regions of the country that also make it possible to increase the training of producers in the search for new products and markets. It is said the 63 measures that were recently approved by the Government to boost the national agricultural program will enable the more than 1,300 cooperatives (private sector) that are part of the group to also increase their exports. GEA noted that the main exportable item is charcoal, which was given added value by marketing it in small formats directly to the main markets. The export list includes habanero chili, fresh fruits, products made in industries such as mango puree and orange and grapefruit concentrates, Persian lime and avocados, destined mainly for Europe and Canada. The main challenges have been to obtain the foreign exchange in the export activity, ability to purchase essential inputs and technologies that allow increasing and diversifying sales in international markets and feeding the population.
 
China will donate 5,000 solar panels to Cuba
“China donará a Cuba cinco mil paneles solares”
*Article Posted in Spanish
By OnCuba, May 25, 2021
 
According to Cuban press it is reported that China will donate some 5,000 solar panels to Cuba as part of the Chinese government's "Belt and Road" initiative to tackle climate change. The project is part of the South-South cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 under the idea of ​​a joint construction of global scope for development. In November 2018, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel ratified the importance of this action during his visit to China that concluded in the signing of a MOU between the two governments, related to conventions and treaties on trade, science and technology, economic and commercial cooperation, mutual visa exemption, investment protection and tourism. In 2017, China came to occupy the first place as the island's commercial partner, a year in which both countries exchanged around 1.8 billion dollars in goods. Cuba imported 1,350 million, mainly electrical products, and exported 379 million, mainly raw sugar and nickel. 
 
Relaxing of rules on bank loans, for the benefit of the agricultural sector
“Flexibilizaciones a créditos bancarios, en beneficio del sector agrícola”
*Article Posted in Spanish 
By Periodico Escambray, May 28, 2021
 
Financial changes form part of a new set of measures being implemented by the Cuban government to increase agricultural production. The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) has made new credits and loans available to agricultural producers, cooperatives and state entities. The new stipulations are an expansion on changes under BCC Resolution 7, of 2016 which establish preferable loans for sector contributors. Now producers are eligible for interest payment exemption of up to 50% on work and investment loans, while those with usufruct titles only pay 3% interest in the first two years, with the state covering half of the corresponding amount. Loans are subject to a no-limit policy, but all requests will be analyzed based on their projected profitability and repayment potential. Steps have also been taken to make credit guarantees more flexible despite the risks associated with agricultural sector loans worldwide. For example, favorable guarantees can be awarded to producers with a good repayment and profit track record, while young people who have completed their military service and have received lands in usufruct can take out loans during their first three years of work. In order to make producers aware of, and instruct them on, how to access these new financial opportunities, training is taking place across all bank branches nationwide, according to Madeleine Martínez Echevarría, deputy director of the Agri-food Department at the Loans and Commerce Bank (Bandec) Central Office. 
 
Hunger as a Weapon: How Biden's Inaction Is Aggravating Cuba's Food Crisis
*Article Posted in English
By William LeoGrande, Common Dreams, May 27, 2021
 
Author William LeoGrande points out that if President Biden wanted to support human rights in Cuban and empower the Cuban people, he can start by alleviating the food crisis by ending Trump’s prohibition on remittances, restoring the right of U.S. residents’ rights to travel to Cuba and allowing for the flow of foreign exchange so that the government has access to hard currency to import food. LeoGrande also provides a historical timeframe of US sanctions and policies toward Cuba, stating that “hunger has been a weapon in Washington's arsenal against Cuba ever since President Eisenhower” and proposed by then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Lester D. Mallory,  "Every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba…to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow the government.” It was President John F. Kennedy who imposed the most comprehensive economic embargo that the U.S. has ever imposed on any country, including prohibitions on both food and medicine sales. The core of that embargo has remained in place ever since. Under the Trump administration the goal of Secretary of State Pompeo was to “starve” the island to bring down the regime and the Biden administration so far has left all these sanctions in place and has yet to complete the Cuba policy review. Meanwhile, in confirmation hearings for Biden’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, declared, “We should be focusing our efforts on what is best for the Cuban people,” and it is clear that the food crisis in Cuba is due in part to U.S. policies. LeoGrande states that everyday Biden delays is another day that Cubans go hungry. Lastly, in 2018, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in to approve Resolution 2417, which condemns the deliberate deprivation of food “in conflict situations.”